Some thoughts:
1. I didn’t think many operators piecemeal stations out in sales, barring rimshots. This was an interesting move for that reason.
2. WRQX was the #5 biller in DC just a few years ago. Cumulus really tanked this station with all the changes they made to it.
3. Speaking of tanking great brands, remember when WPLJ was an iconic NYC brand? I know it’s decline started prior to Cumulus ownership, but they sure didn’t help matters.
4. Just a decade ago, PLJ and either WRQX or WYAY would’ve fetched what all of these stations did. It’s a pretty sad state of affairs in the radio biz.
5. Cumulus does pick up some nice additions in Indy. I wonder if they’ll keep their struggling Energy 93.9 as is, given their pick up of ZPL. I’d love to see them go Active Rock with this signal, but we know that’s not happening.
6. I wonder what changes Entercom will be making with their newly-acquired Gnash FM. If they decide to make any changes, I could see a station similar to Jamz in Chicago. With all this said, Cumulus NYC is down to rimshot WNBM and poorly rated WABC. I wonder when those two are on the selling block.

93.9 will most likely be changing format now that Cumulus will own both 99.5 WZPL and 107.9 The Track. Rock would be a great choice!

Given signal limitations, Entercom would be foolish to dump Country from 94.7. It's a good format for that signal. Country is popular in New Jersey.

I agree that Cumulus is likely looking to unload WABC and WNBM. An Ethnic broadcaster would probably be the most likely acquirer of both, although it wouldn't shock me if someone such as Salem would have interest in WABC.

Another radio apologizer wrote:Just a decade ago, PLJ and either WRQX or WYAY would’ve fetched what all of these stations did. It’s a pretty sad state of affairs in the radio biz.

Only sad if you are not a student of history. Horse drawn carriages were worth a lot more before the car was invented and mass marketed. Radio towers have become much less valuable since the advance of audio delivery via the internet.

But the internet is not a solid infrastructure, It can go down in a blink of an eye and that’s where radio comes in to save the day. Look at the areas that had hurricanes and the areas in California that had the fires, Where was the Internet in those situations it was down no cellphone or broadband, But people had radios and stations in unaffected areas were broadcasting emergency info to people that needed to be informed in the affected areas,The internet and cellphone are not the answer to complete coverage in many areas. Radio will always be there because of it’s dependablity to reach the masses.

Can’t easily scan through crappy internet radio stations in the car. Scanning through crappy terrestrial radio stations in the car saves the day!

Seriously though, this millenial much prefers the (imaginery, idealistic) local radio over the algorithms of streaming stations. Too bad local radio just doesn’t deliver. We have to “settle.” Maybe I’m just old-minded.

Radio will always be with us, But not as a music medium, News ,Talk ,Sports, Religious and Ethnic Programs will be the future of radio AM and FM that’s my prediction for broadcasting in the next 10 years, But I could be wrong. There will be some music but not as a main course, And as much as I dislike Public Radio we may have more stations in that aspect. But time will tell.

Your explanation of how over the airradio is valuable is well written - you missed that part about a valid business model. With the solid competition available thru other less expensive and no real barrier of entry, how does a 365 day a year radio station make money so they are around on that one day of emergency? Figure that out and you can be CEO of Cumulus, or iHeart.

Good point, And with the current financial state of both companies I wouldn’t want to be CEO of neither, But what I think will happen to the industry is we will see more less music intensive formats on both AM and FM and more music services via the internet, And more listener supported radio stations and maybe some Mom and Pop operations again, As I always say, Only time will tell.

Radio will always be with us, But not as a music medium, News ,Talk ,Sports, Religious and Ethnic Programs will be the future of radio AM and FM that’s my prediction for broadcasting in the next 10 years, But I could be wrong. There will be some music but not as a main course, And as much as I dislike Public Radio we may have more stations in that aspect. But time will tell.

You're correct, I'm in my 30's. Disclaimer: I think the question can only best be answered by determining the future of the internet and autonomous vehicles, so those are variables that could derail my predictions because they affect how an audience consumes the content. Any time anyone attempts to predict the future, there can be some crazy ideas, so forgive my potentially oddball ideas.

A lot of people my age still listen to the radio for live and local sports. Sports will have a strong future in radio. The internet doesn't currently deliver this as well as radio.

As translators become more common, the full power signals will weaken in their influence in the sea of interference. In Metro areas, the translators will turn into their own full-fleged, lesser-powered AM's and FM's serving specific locales, serving only their own smaller cities, like Livonia instead of Metro Detroit. We already have 1610 which could transform into a hyper-local service. Obviously the revenues won't be as high as what radio is currently used to. That being said, except for the WJR's and WWJ's of the world, the current large corporations will abandon local radio as they move to alternative platforms. An alternative to this theory is that the WJR's and WWJ's of the world will expand their coverage area as local, weaker stations go silent.

I think investigative news on radio could be a strong competitor to internet news. I remember during the height of the Flint Water Crisis, lots of my friends were talking about what they heard during the investigation... on the radio. There was a very strong investigative piece done by Michigan Radio that seemed to have left a mark on many of my friends, regardless of political affiliation. I think conspiracy/doomsday/propaganda-type programming could become stronger as the political divide is currently showing. That may not be long term, but I think we will see more of it before we see less of it. I would love to hear podcast-type content on the radio, but I think each podcast is too niche for widespread broadcast.

This is a bit far fetched, but it wouldn't surprise me if some radio stations took on a format of a collage of opinion, viral audio, and outlandish "news". One could argue that in the 50s-90s, music was early "viral" content consumed by masses fit for broadcast, and DJ's delivered that to the masses. To reinvent in the age of the decline/death of musicradio, I think viral opinions and other "craziness" will replace it. I think music will still exist on the radio, but it will be inoffensive, cookie-cutter background music. It won't exist to deliver new music or be a musical trend setter.

Most of what you’ve said is interesting, And I’m going to say this, At least your not pulling the plug on radio like most on this and other message boards are, And that’s a good thing, I’m 63 and loved radio since I was a little guy, I had spent 22 years in the business and still have some business interests in the industry, Just dabbling with a few of my friends out in The Northwest creating a few possible new formats for just the fun of it, But it’s always good to hear a positive outlook on the future of this business that I and I’m sure you love weather you’ve worked in it or not, There are a lot of people on this board that do truly love radio and they and yourself should persue a job at any capacity in the business, I know this by just reading everyone’s post and all of you are great with your ideas. I hope that helps you out as well, Good Day!

Your explanation of how over the airradio is valuable is well written - you missed that part about a valid business model. With the solid competition available thru other less expensive and no real barrier of entry, how does a 365 day a year radio station make money so they are around on that one day of emergency? Figure that out and you can be CEO of Cumulus, or iHeart.

I still enjoy radio listening quite a bit. I've recently resurrected my shortwave listening and DXing hobby after a couple decades off. There are a lot less international broadcasters on SW, but there are a few good programs to be heard. As for AM/FM, the future, I believe, will be one of returning to serving the COL with locally originated programming. The dredge of radio currently is the lack of something you *want* to listen to, and that is the anchor of Cume-U-Less and iHate programming. Consolidation has become the bane of domestic radio's existence. The FCC, however, hasn't figured that out.

Internet radio cannot really offer the same experience as local radio. There are just too many things against it. For one, the RIAA. They make programming a decent radio station quite expensive, on-air or over the net. Also, as has been mentioned, the internet is quite fragile, moreso than anyone outside of radio realizes.Too many overloaded servers, hackers and what not. Most brick and steel radio stations would probably survive say, a major solar storm than would the internet. When the net is fried out completely, at least *some* radio stations will be able to get back on the air if they can originate local programming in some way. And have a backup power source. But I think a lot of "consolidated" stations will either remain off or just sit in dead air.